It's Time to Wrestle the Ladies!

It’s Time to Wrestle the Ladies! – Andy Kaufman – 1979-1981

Andy Kaufman became a famous comedian with his role on Taxi as Latka Gravas as well as various appearances on Saturday Night Live performing his “Mighty Mouse” sketch and his Elvis impersonation, but he won infamy with this character that many claimed went way too far. One of the trickiest parts of comedy is judging when to stop an act, when to walk off stage, find a resolution, and quit. Comedians like Louis CK take it as far as they can and then let the bit drop off because there is no possible way to continue. Amanda Palmer acts similarly. Barratt leaves in the middle of his act in order to keep the comedy alive. Kaufman, perhaps, took his so far he could not stop until it almost ruined his career.

In this “sketch” – and I use the term “sketch” here very lightly – Kaufman plays an overtly misogynistic version of himself and challenges women to wrestle him in order to win $1000 cash prize and to prove that a woman can beat a lowest common denominator man. Like in Barratt’s act, Kaufman disregards the role of a performer and acts as an enemy of his audience. He challenges them and talks condescendingly and rudely to them, calling them “chickens,” telling them to “shut up.” The most jolting, abrasive, and violent part of his act comes in the form of his blata

nt misogyny that intentionally infringes on the comfortable state of the viewer. This viewer later becomes a participant and instead of being lauded for taking part in the comedy, for helping to contribute to the laughter and good times, she is demoralized, wrestled, and beaten up.

The lines between reality and fiction are completely blurred in Kaufman’s comedy, and the real world effects of his comedy still linger. In some ways, this bit is a representation of violence because Kaufman really does put on a character, but this representation infringes on the reality of his world and breaks into ours when he purposefully challenges and then beats women on stage. The brilliance of his character comes from the bravado and misogyny. People, including myself, think to themselves that if this is an act, surely Kaufman will lose to the women in order to show that this type of character is just a bit, but because he continues to win and continues to oppress women both in his speech and in his violence, the fictionality of his personhood must come into question.

Kaufman did pay huge consequences for this bit, including and not limited to: an infamy that partially ruined his career and reputation, a broken neck from Jerry Lawler in a stunt in which Kaufman wrestled an actual wrestler, and many, many complaints and campaigns against him and his character. One could say that this act backfired, but in a way, the extremity of his violence simply spread more violence, and what is better than a violent comedic act that has violent and comedic repercussions for those who participate?

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